Russian LMP1 team SMP Racing has decided to withdraw from the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship season, reducing the full-season entry for the championship’s top class to six cars.

Boris Rotenberg, SMP Racing’s founder, said the team has achieved the best results it could with its AER-powered BR1s during last season, and will, therefore, bow out.

“For us, it was a difficult season,” Rotenberg said. “We worked a lot on our BR1 prototype. As a result, we were able to show and prove to everyone that the Russian team, Russian drivers and the Russian car are capable of achieving the highest results in the most difficult world championships and in such a prestigious race as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“This is a well-deserved success of everyone who participated in this ambitious project, drivers, SMP Racing and ART GP, BR Engineering and Dallara. Our goal has always been only a victory, and we believe that we achieved this victory with the highest possible result in the given circumstances.

“After the final race at Le Mans (where it scored a third-place finish overall), we decided that SMP Racing will leave the FIA WEC. Our team will not race in 2019-2020 season.”

This news reduces the LMP1 field to six full-season cars. A pair of Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 HYBRIDs, Rebellion Racing R-13s and Team LNT Ginetta G60-LT-P1s remain.

Rebellion is believed to have committed resources for one car whilst it seeks commercial partners to enable its second car to run for the full season.

Team LNT meanwhile, will be on track at Paul Ricard this week as it works towards finalising details for its full-season entry.

ByKolles and DragonSpeed, who also competed in the ‘Super Season’ in LMP1, don’t feature on the entry for the 2019/20 season, though ByKolles stated it will attempt to compete as a race-by-race entry as its focus shifts to developing a new car for the ‘Hypercar’ ruleset.

The LMP1/2 cars are spectacular but with such a small entry list it surely can't justify the expense incurred. GTE Pro/Am seems to offer closer racing with more manufacturers' road-based cars and to me this is what sportscar and endurance racing should be.

Cooper MacNeil and Toni Vilander fought to a ninth-place finish for the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari in Sunday’s SportsCar Grand Prix at Mosport Park. The high-speed Canadian circuit played host to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as the series returned to sprint format racing with a two-hour, forty-minute race on Sunday.

MacNeil started ninth in the white No. 63 WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3, and was able to hold that position throughout his 46-minute stint.

Vilander was looking to add to his strong results at the track after winning in Blancpain GT competition earlier this season, and took over the controls from 12th in the order during a green-flag pit stop. He quickly got back into the top 10, but could not get the Ferrari into contention on the demanding circuit.

“It was a tough day today; we struggled a little bit with the pace of our car compared to the others,” MacNeil said. “I try to drive the wheels off the thing in a smooth manner and managed to be within a few tenths of the leaders, but just couldn’t keep up. Toni got in and had some issues with the switches of the steering wheel, but he stuck with it and in the end we finished where we started, ninth.

“It was not ideal, but the car is in one piece and we will work with the team to get more speed out of it for the Bull Ring that is Lime Rock in two weeks.”

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM and GTD classes will visit Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., for the Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, July 20.

On Saturday 20 July the ELMS will return to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the first time in ten years for a 4-hour race that will be run after sunset, another first for the series.
Forty-one cars across three classes will provide a weekend of action-packed racing for the fans to enjoy, with a truly international grid of twenty-nine teams and one hundred and thirteen drivers representing twenty-five different nations from across the globe.

Local interest will be focused on former F1 test driver Dani Clos, the Spaniard racing on his home track for the first time since switching to endurance racing with Polish team Inter Europol Competition in the LMP2 class Ligier-Gibson alongside Adrian Tambay and Jakob Smiechowski.

LMP2: the return after the 24 Hours of Le Mans

There are eighteen cars in the LMP2 class and leading the way are the reigning LMP2 champions, G-Drive Racing, after their victory in Monza. 2018 drivers champion Roman Rusinov is joined by 2018 LMP3 champion Job Van Uitert. Jean Eric Vergne returns to the team after missing the opening two races of the season.

IDEC Sport are just two points behind the Russian team after Memo Rojas, Paul-Loup Chatin and Paul Lafargue scored two podium finishes in the first two races. The round 1 winning DragonSpeed Oreca-Gibson is in third just 12 points behind the G-Drive Aurus.

The grid also includes teams and drivers who competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, including Nicolas Lapierre who won the LMP2 category with former ELMS champions Signatech Alpine Matmut. Lapierre is now a four time Le Mans winner and returns to the ELMS in the no37 Cool Racing Oreca.

LMP3: 15 cars on track for the victory

The LMP3 class will feature 15 entries with Eurointernational heading the category after reigning Michelin le Mans Cup Champion Jens Petersen and Mikkel Jensen scored the teams ELMS debut win in Monza. Martin Hippe and Nigel Moore has taking two podium finishes so far to give Polish outfit Inter Europol Competition a good start to the 2019 season in second place in the championship standings. The all French Ultimate team are 18 points behind the leaders, the round 1 winning trio of Matthieu Lahaye, Jean-Baptiste Lahaye and François Heriau looking to get their championship back on track in Spain after failing to score any points in Monza last time out.

LMGTE: 2 points separating the leaders

The no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche is proving to be the car to beat in the high quality 8 car LMGTE field with two pole positions for Matteo Cairoli and victory in Monza for the Italian and teammates Christian Ried and Riccardo Pera. They are just two points ahead of the no51 Luzich Racing Ferrari F488 GTE EVO of former FIA World GT Champion Alessandro Pier Guidi and fellow drivers Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen.

Jörg Bergmeister and Egidio Perfetti were the LMGTE Am race winners at Le Mans last month and in doing so they became the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance LMGTE AM Champions, with Team Project 1 taking the team world title. Perfetti and Bergmeister return to the ELMS in the no56 Project 1 Porsche alongside David Heinemeier Hansson.

The LMGTE grid will also feature the FIA Women in Motorsport backed crew of Manuela Gostner, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting in the no83 Kessel Racing Ferrari. The all female crew got their season off to a great start with a hard fought second place in le Castellet.

Host of international motorsport stars set to compete at WEC’s 4 Hours of Silverstone

A first glimpse at the entry list for the WEC’s Season 8 opener, the 4 Hours of Silverstone, has today been revealed.

No fewer than 14 British drivers will be part of the line-up of 30 cars confirmed to compete in this first round of the 2019-2020 FIA World Endurance Championship at Silverstone (30 August – 1 September).

The WEC together with the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and Porsche Carrera Cup GB will create a weekend of non-stop motorsport action for fans attending Silverstone, the home of British motor racing. Ticket prices start as low as £10 for the Friday, £25 on Saturday and just £50 for all three days. Children aged under 15 will go free, access to available grandstands is free and there will be the usual open paddocks, pit walks and autograph sessions with the WEC and ELMS drivers.

The LMP1 line-up for Toyota Gazoo Racing remains unchanged apart from New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley who will make his first competitive outing with the Japanese squad. Hartley - a two-time WEC World Champion - will join Kazuki Nakajima and Sébastien Buemi in the No. 8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID.

Driving the sister No. 7 car will be Britain’s Mike Conway who will be accompanied by José María López and Kamui Kobayashi. British squad Team LNT will field two Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AER cars with Britons Charlie Robertson and Michael Simpson set to race on home soil. Finally, Swiss team Rebellion Racing will field one car with its trio of drivers still to be confirmed.

In LMGTE Pro, Porsche GT Team, AF Corse and Aston Martin Racing will each enter two cars for the WEC season-opener. At least two British drivers will compete on home turf including 2017 GTE Pro World Champion James Calado from the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and Alex Lynn from the No. 91 Aston Martin Racing Vantage AMR. While Porsche has already announced an unchanged look to its line-up for Season 8, Ferrari and Aston Martin’s drivers will be confirmed soon.

British interest will be focused primarily on two teams in the blossoming LMP2 category - JOTA and United Autosports, the American team being based in the UK and managed by an experienced British squad. Four British drivers have also been listed to drive in LMP2 at Silverstone including ex F1 driver and DTM star, Paul Di Resta. Di Resta will compete alongside fellow countryman Philip Hanson for United Autosports in the Oreca 07 Gibson. Anthony Davidson, the 2014 WEC World Champion, is entered under the No. 38 JOTA with another Oreca while Britain’s Will Stevens – another ex F1 driver - will compete in the Jackie Chan DC Racing No. 37 car.

A driver shake-up in the LMP2 category for Silverstone will be Job van Uitert who will replace regular driver Nyck de Vries in the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland car, the 20-year-old F2 title contender having a clashing event. Van Uitert will drive the new Oreca 07 Gibson run by TDS for Racing Team Nederland, together with Frits van Eerd and Giedo van der Garde. The LMP2 category will see three other teams make their first competitive WEC debut: High Class Racing, Cool Racing and Cetilar Racing. Meanwhile, last year’s category winners Signatech Alpine Elf will be eager to get their Season 8 campaign off to the best possible start with a win.

In LMGTE Am, eleven entries will make up the highly competitive field with four British entries confirmed to compete: TF Sport, Aston Martin Racing, Gulf Racing and newcomers Red River Sport. Red River Sport who, in collaboration with Spirit of Race, will compete in a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and have enlisted the help of Britain's Bonamy Grimes, Charles Hollings and former ELMS GT Champion, Johnny Mowlem. Other British driver names so far include Michael Wainwright and Benjamin Barker in the No. 86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR plus TF Sport’s Charlie Eastwood and Jonny Adam in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

On Saturday 20 July the ELMS will return to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the first time in ten years for a 4-hour race that will be run after sunset, another first for the series.
Forty-one cars across three classes will provide a weekend of action-packed racing for the fans to enjoy, with a truly international grid of twenty-nine teams and one hundred and thirteen drivers representing twenty-five different nations from across the globe.

Local interest will be focused on former F1 test driver Dani Clos, the Spaniard racing on his home track for the first time since switching to endurance racing with Polish team Inter Europol Competition in the LMP2 class Ligier-Gibson alongside Adrian Tambay and Jakob Smiechowski.

LMP2: the return after the 24 Hours of Le Mans

There are eighteen cars in the LMP2 class and leading the way are the reigning LMP2 champions, G-Drive Racing, after their victory in Monza. 2018 drivers champion Roman Rusinov is joined by 2018 LMP3 champion Job Van Uitert. Jean Eric Vergne returns to the team after missing the opening two races of the season.

IDEC Sport are just two points behind the Russian team after Memo Rojas, Paul-Loup Chatin and Paul Lafargue scored two podium finishes in the first two races. The round 1 winning DragonSpeed Oreca-Gibson is in third just 12 points behind the G-Drive Aurus.

The grid also includes teams and drivers who competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, including Nicolas Lapierre who won the LMP2 category with former ELMS champions Signatech Alpine Matmut. Lapierre is now a four time Le Mans winner and returns to the ELMS in the no37 Cool Racing Oreca.

LMP3: 15 cars on track for the victory

The LMP3 class will feature 15 entries with Eurointernational heading the category after reigning Michelin le Mans Cup Champion Jens Petersen and Mikkel Jensen scored the teams ELMS debut win in Monza. Martin Hippe and Nigel Moore has taking two podium finishes so far to give Polish outfit Inter Europol Competition a good start to the 2019 season in second place in the championship standings. The all French Ultimate team are 18 points behind the leaders, the round 1 winning trio of Matthieu Lahaye, Jean-Baptiste Lahaye and François Heriau looking to get their championship back on track in Spain after failing to score any points in Monza last time out.

LMGTE: 2 points separating the leaders

The no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche is proving to be the car to beat in the high quality 8 car LMGTE field with two pole positions for Matteo Cairoli and victory in Monza for the Italian and teammates Christian Ried and Riccardo Pera. They are just two points ahead of the no51 Luzich Racing Ferrari F488 GTE EVO of former FIA World GT Champion Alessandro Pier Guidi and fellow drivers Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen.

Jörg Bergmeister and Egidio Perfetti were the LMGTE Am race winners at Le Mans last month and in doing so they became the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance LMGTE AM Champions, with Team Project 1 taking the team world title. Perfetti and Bergmeister return to the ELMS in the no56 Project 1 Porsche alongside David Heinemeier Hansson.

The LMGTE grid will also feature the FIA Women in Motorsport backed crew of Manuela Gostner, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting in the no83 Kessel Racing Ferrari. The all female crew got their season off to a great start with a hard fought second place in le Castellet.

While the two-hour race for the Michelin Le Mans Cup on Saturday 20 July will be the first visit to Spain’s premier race track, there are two drivers on the grid who raced in the last Le Mans Series race to take place in Barcelona ten years ago.
Reigning GT3 drivers champion Giacomo Piccini competed in the 1000km de Catalunya in the no29 Racing Box Lola-Judd in the LMP2 class. Piccini raced with fellow Italians Filippo Francioni and Andre Ceccato and claimed the class pole position in a time of 1m36.156s. In the 6 hour-race the Italian crew finished third in the LMP2 class, with their teammates Andrea Piccini, Matteo Bobbi and Thomas Biagi taking the LMP2 victory in the no30 Racing Box Lola.

The second driver who was on the grid ten years ago is John Hartshorne. The British driver is also racing for the Kessel Racing team, competing with compatriot Ollie Hancock in the no50 Ferrari.

In 2009 Hartshorne drove the LMGT2 class no99 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT with French drivers Johan Boris Scheier and Romain Iannetta, the trio finishing 6th in the GT2 category at the end of the 1000km race.

The two drivers will be hoping their previous experience of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will help them on the first visit by the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

Round 4 of the Michelin Le Mans Cup will take place on Saturday 20 July, with the two hour race due to begin at 13h00.

Saturday sees the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and Magnus Racing will pay tribute to the historic event with a one-time, livery and car number for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship’s Northeast Grand Prix, on the same day.

The team’s #44 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO will adopt both a tribute livery and with special dispensation, the revised number #11 too, the livery designed to mimic the Saturn V rocket, to commemorate the mission.

“We wanted to do something special to mark the occasion, and we felt this was the best way we could honour the event,” stated Magnus Racing team owner and co-driver John Potter. “Space exploration and the historical significance behind it has always been something I’ve held a long admiration for, so this is a very personal project to me. Obviously, the Apollo 11 mission is an amazing tribute to human ingenuity and creativity, and that’s something that translates extremely well to our sport. I’m glad we could pay tribute, and of course, I appreciate everyone on the team, as well as IMSA for some of the accommodations they’ve made to change our number and colour panel, for making this a reality. Hopefully, we can pay the ultimate honour by bringing home a win.”

Lime Rock will also see the team offer free freeze-dried astronaut food for children in attendance, speciality autograph cards, tribute costumes and more!

For Andy Lally, a similar enthusiasm is shared.

“We’re excited to pay tribute in our own way,” stated Lally. “The camaraderie and team mentality required through the entirety of the Gemini and Apollo programs was unlike any in history, and that’s an ethos that any successful race team has to embrace. The heroism from the astronauts themselves is incredible, but at the same time, the effort and attitude from everyone on the project deserve incredible praise. We hope to represent well at Lime Rock.”

European Le Mans Series - Ferrari monopolize the top four at the 4 Hours of Barcelona

Barcelona, 20 July 2019 - Four Ferrari crews occupied the first four places in the LMGTE class at the close of the 4 Hours of Barcelona. A noteworthy final balance sheet for the third round of the European Le Mans Series, held today in Spain, which for the first time in its history, was played out under artificial light. The spoils, for the second time this season, went to the 488 GTE crew of Luzich Racing with Alessandro Pier Guidi, Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen who, thanks to today’s result, become the new overall leaders.

First hour. The races was dominated throughout by the Swiss Ferrari team who were first across the line as the clock struck each of the scheduled hours of the race, with the exception of the first, where a delayed pit stop by the Porsche of Team Project 1 had temporarily relegated car #51 down to second place. After having battled over the opening stages of the race with Kessel Racing’s sister car – which in the morning qualifying had secured pole position thanks to an impeccable lap by Andrea Piccini – the crew of Luzich Racing took command of the race, edging further and further away from adversaries.

Second hour. At the top of the second hour, Ferrari #51 held a 27-second margin over Team Project 1’s Porsche and a 50-second advantage over Spirit of Race’s 488 GTE, who had performed very positively over the opening half of the race. With two hours still to race before the chequered flag, the Luzich Racing crew upped the tempo and set out to establish an advantage that would be unreachable for their rivals. However, the gap was closed down by the incursion of the Safety Car, made necessary while the safety barrier at turn three was repaired, after a prototype had crashed out – without consequences.

Third hour. An hour later, with the perimeter of the Barcelona circuit now in darkness, the situation in the standings behind the leader was to take yet another twist with the Ferrari courtesy of JMW Motorsport with Segal-Lu-Cressoni moving into second position ahead of the Scott-Cameron-Griffin trio at the wheel of car #55.

Fourth hour. The final hour reshuffled the table still further, producing an even rosier outcome for the Prancing Horse marque as four 488 GTEs occupied the top four places, dominating the competition. The chequered flag ushered past Alessandro Pier Guidi claiming his second success of the season for Luzich Racing with a 41”119-advantage over JMW Motorsport’s Ferrari driven by Matteo Cressoni and 47”605 over Spirit of Race’s 488 GTE with Matthew Griffin at the wheel. A lap behind the winner, Rahel Frey brought home the Kessel Racing car #83, which had also been driven by Manuela Gostner and Michelle Gatting. The fifth Ferrari entrant, another Kessel Racing machine featuring pole-sitter Andrea Piccini and team-mates Sergio Pianezzola and Claudio Schiavoni, concluded the four hour-race in eighth final position.

Standings and schedule. The result sees Alessandro Pier Guidi, Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen become the new leaders in the overall standings of the European Le Mans Series, with 65 points in the table. Drivers can now look forward to the next round to be held on 30th September in Silverstone.

European Le Mans Series - Ferrari monopolize the top four at the 4 Hours of Barcelona

Barcelona, 20 July 2019 - Four Ferrari crews occupied the first four places in the LMGTE class at the close of the 4 Hours of Barcelona. A noteworthy final balance sheet for the third round of the European Le Mans Series, held today in Spain, which for the first time in its history, was played out under artificial light. The spoils, for the second time this season, went to the 488 GTE crew of Luzich Racing with Alessandro Pier Guidi, Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen who, thanks to today’s result, become the new overall leaders.

First hour. The races was dominated throughout by the Swiss Ferrari team who were first across the line as the clock struck each of the scheduled hours of the race, with the exception of the first, where a delayed pit stop by the Porsche of Team Project 1 had temporarily relegated car #51 down to second place. After having battled over the opening stages of the race with Kessel Racing’s sister car – which in the morning qualifying had secured pole position thanks to an impeccable lap by Andrea Piccini – the crew of Luzich Racing took command of the race, edging further and further away from adversaries.

Second hour. At the top of the second hour, Ferrari #51 held a 27-second margin over Team Project 1’s Porsche and a 50-second advantage over Spirit of Race’s 488 GTE, who had performed very positively over the opening half of the race. With two hours still to race before the chequered flag, the Luzich Racing crew upped the tempo and set out to establish an advantage that would be unreachable for their rivals. However, the gap was closed down by the incursion of the Safety Car, made necessary while the safety barrier at turn three was repaired, after a prototype had crashed out – without consequences.

Third hour. An hour later, with the perimeter of the Barcelona circuit now in darkness, the situation in the standings behind the leader was to take yet another twist with the Ferrari courtesy of JMW Motorsport with Segal-Lu-Cressoni moving into second position ahead of the Scott-Cameron-Griffin trio at the wheel of car #55.

Fourth hour. The final hour reshuffled the table still further, producing an even rosier outcome for the Prancing Horse marque as four 488 GTEs occupied the top four places, dominating the competition. The chequered flag ushered past Alessandro Pier Guidi claiming his second success of the season for Luzich Racing with a 41”119-advantage over JMW Motorsport’s Ferrari driven by Matteo Cressoni and 47”605 over Spirit of Race’s 488 GTE with Matthew Griffin at the wheel. A lap behind the winner, Rahel Frey brought home the Kessel Racing car #83, which had also been driven by Manuela Gostner and Michelle Gatting. The fifth Ferrari entrant, another Kessel Racing machine featuring pole-sitter Andrea Piccini and team-mates Sergio Pianezzola and Claudio Schiavoni, concluded the four hour-race in eighth final position.

Standings and schedule. The result sees Alessandro Pier Guidi, Fabien Lavergne and Nicklas Nielsen become the new leaders in the overall standings of the European Le Mans Series, with 65 points in the table. Drivers can now look forward to the next round to be held on 30th September in Silverstone.

Sorry mate, I no longer have it. In dispute with eurosport. As I signed up for the whole year. 39.99 think it was, and didn't take much notice till looked at my banking app after couple months, they were also taking 4.99 a month out. So cancelled it, still trying get my money back.

Croft is in another league of annoyingness! I don't actually mind CK, but he made a few snide comments about Ferrari at Le Mans

One of fee reasons hardly watch f1 anymore, the whole sky merc and rbr lobefest and fan boys they turned into. Is shameful. Carlton, met him in silverstone. He good friend of Sam Bird. But, he complete, cannt say what want say as have to ban myself lol. He hasn't got much time for AF corse. He loves aston.

One of fee reasons hardly watch f1 anymore, the whole sky merc and rbr lobefest and fan boys they turned into. Is shameful. Carlton, met him in silverstone. He good friend of Sam Bird. But, he complete, cannt say what want say as have to ban myself lol. He hasn't got much time for AF corse. He loves aston.

I caught bits of it on EuroSport, they had similar coverage on TV as they did for LeMans which was really disappointing if I'm honest! They should've utilised both channels to show the whole race IMO! I couldn't be bothered scratching around for a stream so only watched into the evening, I assume the player had uninterrupted coverage like they had for LeMans. It's a shame motorsport tv is no more as I'm sure they would've had it from start to finish!

Sorry to hear about your problems you've had with Eurosport over their billing! They sound like right bar stewards! (I can say that right?) By the sounds of it consumer law is on your side and I hope you get the result you clearly deserve!

There was no epiphany or major change that’s led Turner Motorsport to three consecutive podium finishes in the GT Daytona (GTD) class of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition. It’s been about continuing the process and believing that good things will come from it.

That it has. The No. 96 has finishes of second, first and third in the three most recent GTD races, allowing drivers Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley to vault from 13th place to second in the season standings. And with the series here at Road America this weekend, a high-speed road course built for the power of the BMW M6 GT3, excitement runs high in the Turner camp for the IMSA Road Race Showcase.

“We’ve had three podiums in a row,” Foley said. “We had a good race at Lime Rock (a third-place finish on July 20), where typically our car struggles a little bit more. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into Road America, which is typically a good track for the M6.

“Hopefully we have a shot for the pole and shot for the podium, and try to keep closing the gap to the No. 86 (Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3).”

Not many would have predicted such a thought after the first four races this season, when the best finish Turner Motorsport could muster was ninth place in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. Mechanical gremlins bit at Daytona and the succeeding race, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts.

Following that came a first-lap crash in the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio and a pole-winning effort in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in Detroit wiped out when the car failed post-qualifying tech inspection. Auberlen and Foley still rallied to fourth place near the end of the Detroit race before another mechanical issue put the car out of the race with less than two minutes remaining.

“Those races were all just bad, bad luck,” said Auberlen. “Then all of a sudden, once we got on track, we’ve been fighting for the front and good to go.”

Foley added, “Things are just kind of working out. We’ve been fast all year, but we’ve had mechanical failures or we’ve gotten taken out, just things haven’t gone our way. Things are starting to click a little bit. I feel like we’re getting better as a team each time, but it’s nothing drastic.”

Now, with momentum building, the task at hand is simple.

“For the rest of the year, we just kind of have to be there when it counts,” Foley said, “Get good finishes and win when we can or live around the podium.”

Auberlen and Foley trail No. 86 drivers Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman by 30 points with four races remaining. The deficit is sizable, but not insurmountable in Auberlen’s mind.

“We have a gap to the leaders but if they have a string of bad luck – which isn’t likely, but it happened to us so it could happen to them,” he said. ”Then we’re right in the hunt to go battle for the championship.”

Auberlen also must constantly address the elephant in the room, his bid to tie Scott Pruett for most wins in IMSA annals with his next victory. The 50-year-old Californian, named one of the 50 greatest drivers in IMSA history, tries not to think about it, but …

“Everybody else does, so it’s like an every five-minute reminder,” he said with a laugh. “Every fan that comes up says, ‘Wow, you can do it!’ It’s a constant reminder.

“If we just do our job properly, the win will come like they all did. (Team owner) Will Turner was right when he said, ‘Let’s not focus on the wins, let’s focus on the championship.’ As soon as we did that, everything just straightened out and we went podium, podium, podium. Along with podiums, the wins will come. I’ve got plenty of career left to do it.”

The Road America schedule features two practices on Friday and a third Saturday morning ahead of WeatherTech Championship qualifying that streams live on IMSA.tv at 1:25 p.m. ET Saturday. The two-hour, 40-minute race streams live Sunday on the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com 2:30 p.m. ET, with a same-day telecast on NBCSN at 6 p.m.

The 4 Hours of Silverstone saw changeable weather with sunshine and heavy showers which set the stage for an incident packed and drama filled race for the fans to enjoy.
The UK round of the 2019 European Le Mans Series was won by the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca with Memo Rojas taking the chequered flag after the no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus pitted for fuel four minutes before the end of the race.

The no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Nigel Moore closed down a two minute gap to catch the no11 Eurointernational Ligier of Jens Petersen in the final hour of the race. Petersen took the flag first but was given a 30 second penalty for not coming into the pits for a Black and Orange flag earlier in the race.

The no13 Ligier was declared the winner but was then handed a 1m43s penalty for not respecting the minimum driving time. So the no11 Ligier was handed the win back and the no13 Ligier was second.

The race started in dramatic fashion with the track being declared wet at the start as the rain clouds on the horizon got closer. The no21 DragonSpeed Oreca of James Allen kept the lead while behind the leaders there were a few cars that went off at the first corner, with all rejoining the battle.

In LMP3 the no17 Ultimate of Jean-Baptiste Lahaye took the lead ahead of pole sitter Yann Ehrlacher in the no19 M Racing Norma.

In LMGTE, it was the no60 Kessel Racing Ferrari out in front at the start with Sergio Pianezzola moving ahead of the no88 Porsche of Gianluca Giraudi, the Italian dropping back to 3rd as the no83 Kessel Ferrari of Michelle Gatting moved up to second place.

The rain that had been forecasted duly arrived and most of the grid dived into the pits for wet tyres after just 5 minutes of racing. The no21 DragonSpeed of James Allen didn’t pit and stayed out on slicks gambling that the rain would quickly clear. Mikkel Jensen made the same gamble in the no11 Eurointernational Ligier and the Dane found himself in the class lead.

The no43 RLR MSport Oreca of Matthieu Vaxiviere was revelling in the wet conditions, the French driver moving up the field to take the lead as the no21 DragonSpeed Oreca pitted for wets. Vaxiveire held an 18 second lead over the no23 Panis Barthez Competition Oreca of Will Stevens.

The no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari of Wei Lu ended in the gravel at T7, bringing out the first Full Course Yellow of the race. The car was quickly recovered and the race went green after only four minutes. A second FCY period was declared ten minutes later when the no22 United Autosports Oreca of Phil Hanson went off at Brooklands: the car lost all power and the British driver was forced to retire.

Once again the race went green very quickly after the car was placed behind the barriers at Luffield. The rain had stopped and the track had started to dry out. The no43 RLR M Sport Oreca was over 30 seconds ahead of the no24 Panis Barthez Ligier of Konstantin Tereschenko. Mikkel Jensen also held a 30 second lead in LMP3 with Christian England in the no3 United Autosports Ligier in second. It was a Kessel Racing 1-2 as Sergio Pianezzola led in the no60 488 GTE, 15 seconds ahead of the no83 Ferrari of Michelle Gatting.

Matthieu Vaxiviere pitted from the lead to hand over to Canadian John Farano, rejoining the track with an 8 second lead. However, the more experienced drivers in the following cars soon caught and passed Farano, who was down to sixth a few laps later with James Allen back into the lead in the no21 DragonSpeed.

There was further woes for Farano when he was the innocent victim of a collision between the no30 Duqueine Engineering Oreca of Nicolas Jamin and the no14 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Sam Dejonghe. The no43 Oreca was clipped by the no14 Ligier and Farano had to return to the pits where a damaged wishbone needed replacing. Nicolas Jamin was given a drive through penalty for causing the accident.

A Safety Car was deployed when the no3 United Autosports Ligier of Mike Guasch and the no24 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier of Timothe Buret collided and the LMP3 car ended hitting the concrete wall hard. The American driver was conscious and taken to the circuit medical centre for checks.

After twenty minutes the race resumed only for a second Safety Car to be deployed almost immediately as the no37 Cool Racing Oreca and the no19 M Racing Norma collided, the Oreca ending up in the middle of the track and was hit by the no30 Duqueine Engineering Oreca.

With an hour to go the race resumed with the no39 Graff Racing Oreca of Jonathan Hirschi out in front of the field. The Swiss driver was judged to have acted dangerously during the Safety Car period and was given a drive through penalty. The no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus of Jean-Eric Vergne took the lead with Memo Rojas in the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca following.

Jens Petersen in the no11 Eurointernational Ligier was nearly a lap ahead of the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Nigel Moore, the British driver lapping over five second faster than the leader.

In LMGTE the no83 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Rahel Frey was leading with the no88 Proton Competition Porsche of Thomas Preining closing rapidly. The Austrian passed the Swiss driver on the run into Stowe Corner and started to open up a gap. The no51 Luzich Racing and no60 Kessel Racing Ferraris were battling hard for third place with the no60 488 getting the upperhand.

With 30 minutes to go Ben Hanley in the no21 DragonSpeed was out in front, passing the no26 G-Drive Aurus for the lead. However, it was short lived when Ben Hanley had to pit and Jean-Eric Vergne went back into the lead ahead of the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca and the no39 Graff Oreca 07. It looked like Vergne was heading for the Russian team’s third win in a row, but the French driver had to pit for a ‘splash and dash’ fuel stop. This put Rojas into the lead and the victory.

The no11 Eurointernational Ligier was being caught by the no13 Inter Europol Ligier but it looked like Petersen was going to hold on. But disaster struck when the team received a black and orange flag to bring the car in to repair a damaged splitter.

The German driver stayed out and took the chequered flag but was issued with a drive through penalty converted to a 30 second time penalty, dropping the no11 Eurointernational Ligier down the order. This promoted the no13 Ligier of Martin Hippe and Nigel Moore into the class winning position.

However, it all changed again when the no13 Ligier was handed a 1m43 second penalty for not respecting the driving time for the bronze driver. This switched the two cars around again so Mikkel Jensen and Jens Petersen were declared the LMP3 winners of the 4 Hours of Silverstone. The no2 United Autosports Ligier of Wayne Boyd, Garret Grist and Tommy Erdos took the final podium place.

In LMGTE the no88 Proton Competition Porsche crossed the line to take a debut ELMS win for Thomas Preining, Gianluca Giraudi and Ricardo Sanchez, with the no83 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Michelle Gatting, Manuela Gostner and Rahel Frey taking their second podium finish of the 2019 season.

Hey Rob! Why no posts for Silverstone or this weekends Blancpain GT in Hungary? I hope you are well in any case

Sorry, been very busy.

Wasn't great race for us, #51 #71 or the #54, but hey that's racing. Still got win in get am. Got few pictures I will sort out to post here in bit.

Being so close to many of the drivers and mechanics. Well part of the family now. Divide Rigon, said to me thankyou so much for what I do for him and the team on Facebook.

Francesco, last month text networks saying will have passes for me on the Friday. But, on Thursday evening, he text say in, sorry but Thomas FLohr has taken all 22 passes. But we can go spend as much time want in his pits. But we did get into after corse hospitality anyway. Yay

Keira and Jacob with very good mate Valentino. Made Jacobs day as he got hug off him. As all week before, Jacob kept asking, will my mate, as in Jacob saying Vale his mate aswell., give me hug again daddy. I tested Vale that. As we entered the AF Corse pits, Vale was in #51 getting her ready to fire up, saw us jumped out and gave Jacob massive hug. We all chatted for bit, and Vale gave me brand new AF Corse polo top. I got many more pictures, will upload few more tomorrow.

Wasn't great race for us, #51 #71 or the #54, but hey that's racing. Still got win in get am. Got few pictures I will sort out to post here in bit.

Being so close to many of the drivers and mechanics. Well part of the family now. Divide Rigon, said to me thankyou so much for what I do for him and the team on Facebook.

Francesco, last month text networks saying will have passes for me on the Friday. But, on Thursday evening, he text say in, sorry but Thomas FLohr has taken all 22 passes. But we can go spending as much time want in his pits. But we did get into after corse hospitality anyway. Yay

Ahhhhhhhhh!!! that's amazing Rob! I'm so glad your presence is noted and valued! I know how special it is to be able to get the access you do, but more than that I know how much YOU know what a privilege it is to be there! It's always great to hear what insights you have from within the team and from a fan's prospective as well!